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Rear Entertainment Retrofit

75K views 89 replies 33 participants last post by  vibbelito 
#1 · (Edited)
Hi,

I'm not sure if anyone has done this before so thought I'd share.

I have decided to retrofit my vehicle with the OEM rear entertainment system.

I recently retrofitted the OEM DVD changer, ever since my eldest daughter has been complaining she cant see the screen from the back!

Personally I dont like fitting aftermarket equipment so here I am retrofitting the rear entertainment system.

I already have rear comfort seats so the arm rest is there just missing the controller! :D

I purchased the screen and control unit from ebay for £150



The controller I bought separately for £80

This is the screen fitted:



Right now the fun part! My rear armrest does not have the provision for the rear idrive controller:



The dealer wanted £220 for the trim with the hole for the controller! :yikes:

I'm not made of money so decided to have a go at modifying the wood trim myself!

I bolted the rear armrest to a thick piece of aluminium using M5 stand-offs, the holes in the armrest casting had to be drilled to 4.5mm and taped to M5:



I then bolted the assembly to a milling machine and placed the rear controller stencil a colleague at work kindly made for me! :)



I then cut the arm rest trim to the stencil using 10mm slot cutter:



A little finishing off with a small file and the rear controller now fits the original trim:



Bear in mind this is wood veneer bonded to an aluminium casting, I found it best to carefully cut the wood veneer first to avoid cracking and chipping before going round a second time to cut the aluminium.

I have bought the new video module for rear entertainment, hopefully that will arrive next week. I do have a genuine hybrid Digital tv module for sale at the moment on ebay £390 this receives all UK freeview channels, the only reason for sale is its not compatible with the rear entertainment system due to some major wiring differences.

I will update shortly with wiring and fibre optic routing for the rear control module.

Stuart
 
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#42 ·
You are the first to come up with any idea - and it sounds like it makes sense. The entertaiment system is virtualy unused, may be 10 hours total - very low KM's on the car. Can the laser age and loose power without it being used?

If dirty - how do you clean it?

Many thanks.
 
#49 ·
hey Stuart any updates on your DVD player , did you increase the laser power ?

if so did it show any improvements ???


Here's some info on a car I worked on today .
coded front screen controls & viewing with no issue's .
Then tried loading all Disney in the changer & it was a no go .
Took them out & tried burned DVD's -R then +R it was also a no go .
So then loaded some old random DVD's & a few new 2013 DVD's .
Funny thing is all the old DVD's played fine , But some of the newer
DVD's had problems not loading . When they did they played for
a minute then started jumping scenes like if the DVD was scratched .
None of them had scratches .

Weird how you get the total opposite , I wonder why GRRRR LoL
makes me want to try the E70 DVD changer to see what results I get . hahahaha :D
 
#55 ·
Great to see such professional n nice work
Can anybody advise me thst my DVD changer has gone out of order for year 2004 as rear entertainment us genuinely there
Is there any compatible DVD changer which can be fit in boot to acquits te Dvd playing
Also when v insert DVD v can see it only on rear screen or front as well
Furthermore my car shows an option of blutooth in front screen but my phone doesn't connect with it, is there any kit missing
Also in the sim slot my one sim works but none other sim gets activated. Can anybody advise on these three issues
 
#56 ·
TV Antenna Upgrade + Facelift MMIF

Hi all,

Though I would give an update to the install and what Ihave been doing since the original retrofit I started earlier in the year.

The system has been working great since the install, definitely keeps the kids happy so thats the main thing!

In my original install I replaced the video module for the RES version (VM5 Drive) and installed the MMIF and CIDF monitor to the armrest.

There are still a few more bits to do, I still need to fit the headset module, audio panel in rear arm-rest, all associated wiring, new diversity amplifier and cable for extra TV antenna feed etc... :eek:

Some of this I will cover in this post.

Since the original install I have been looking for a facelift MMIF module such that the Idrive interface is the same as the facelift MMI I have already fitted.

Luckily I picked one up from a seller in latvia for £50, which was pretty cheap! :D The facelift ones can be easily identified by an additional small screw on the casting side near the black interface connector.

I managed to get an OEM bracket for the MMIF (this cannot be bought separately from the the lower armrest!) and the rear armrest trim/cover for the MMIF which has different mounting lugs for the MMIF version.



I was worried the facelift MMIF module would not work or display correctly because there is a facelift rear monitor CIDF too, luckily though it worked perfectly!





The MENU and multifunction button now work on the rear controller as expected.

Again, Like the MMIGT, the VO has to be dummy edited to post March 05 to code the facelift MMIF.

Video Module Diversity Antenna:

The digital video module for RES requires three antenna inputs instead of the two on the standard hybrid digital tuner. The three antennas improve reception so rear passengers (or front if you code VIM :thumbup:) can watch TV while moving.

Digital Hybrid Tuner for NON RES Vehicles:


Digital Hybrid Tuner for RES Vehicles:


My original analogue tuner had two antennas so upgrading to the standard hybrid tuner was not an issue, however since putting the RES hybrid tuner in with only two antennas connected the reception is poor and cuts in and out every few seconds.

Luckily an RES diversity amplifier finally came up on eBay after a 6 month wait! :mad: (Dealer wanted £230 for it new!) it has the extra TV antenna feed for the RES video module.

Here it is compared to my old one, which was the standard TV version, its located in the passenger C pillar behind the radio tuner (drivers side for LHD).



I made up a new antenna cable, its simply RG58 cable with a Z coded FAKRA connector on each end:



Completed:


BTW, BMW dont sell these aymore, if anyone needs any I can make them up for you, just specify the length and PM me, this one was 1750mm long.

And fitted:


I will update shortly with headset interface install and wiring.

Stuart
 
#59 ·
That amazing
good work!

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#60 ·
Iv'e exhausted myself searching and I think Staurt can answer my question. I have an X6M and the cable going into the diversity antenna (which is located in at the top of the rear hatch) has been damaged and I need to replace just the FAKRA connector and a couple inches of the cable. There is nothing anywhere I can find that gives a part number or describes what type of cable this is. I looks the same as the RG58 above. Any help with that and the ability to just splice a new connector and cable section. My only other option I know of is having the dealer replace the entire cable to wherever it goes which could be a lot of labor and down time. Thank you. John
 
#61 ·
Hi,

Yep it will be a coaxial cable, more than likely RG174 which is smaller diameter than RG58 that I used, it's easier to make off FAKRA connectors with RG58 as it's about twice the size!

I would buy a cheap cable from eBay that's the correct length and run it to where it needs to go.

Stuart

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#64 ·
Splicing the cable may make it lossy as the cable is impedance matched.

Post a photo I can find out what it's for.

You may be better off buying a FAKRA Z, the Z is universal and there should be more choice about and cheaper in most cases.

Stuart


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#68 · (Edited)
hi Stuart, really admiring your retrofits. I have a question, my 2003 e66 745 has RES, and original TV function but did not have navigation. Last year i added navigation but there was some color fading in some colors as i also posted a topic about that.http://www.bimmerfest.com/forums/showthread.php?t=722762&highlight=
Since i see you have res, navigation and Tv 3 of them all with no problems i am just thinking of if there is a problem in my set-up. My car has analogue Tv module. Since you have digital one is that be causing a problem? Also about the video module this is mine,
may there be any newer versions of that module that (like fbas) that can solve the problem.
My second question is, i updated the front mmi with facelift one. For the rear, do i need just the facelift video module for rear screen, like this
or do i have to change the rear screen to facelift one also. Is there any resolution differences between them? This is what i have currently.

Thanks in advance.
 
#69 ·
Thanks for your compliments!

Yes I have NAVI03 with hybrid digital RES tuner with the RES obviously.

I have read your issues on your other thread, looks interesting!

The wiring between the RES and non RES is very different and I'm wondering if something has got mixed up somewhere.

To summarise, if you just have NAV then the RGB outputs directly to the MMI

If you have NAV and TV but NO RES then you need a hybrid FBAS tuner (FBAS means composite video) the TV tuner connects to the NAV using a composite video input.

When you NAV and TV WITH RES then it's a bit different!

The NAV no longer wires directly to the MMI, it must wire to the hybrid TV tuner with RES (easily identifiable because it has three antenna sockets like the one you pictured)

The RES TV tuner is also a video switch, it has two RGB outputs one for the front MMI and one for the rear MMIF.

Therefore the single RGB output from the NAV can be shown on both front and rear screen and different sources can be shown on the front and rear, like NAV front, TV or DVD at the rear.

With RES you cannot however have TV/DVD up front with NAV in the split screen, the RES TV module cannot merge two RGB sources together into the extra wide video signal that the MMI accepts (this is possible with no RES, the NAV has a powerful video processor for this purpose).

I'm guessing it's not quite wires up right, you have a grounding issue or the NAVI03 is faulty.

What's the video like from the TV tuner source?

To clarify your other questions, the facelift MMIF module is compatible with the pre facelift rear display, there is no resolution change. you will also need an extra antenna feed for your hybrid tuner, I have explained this in a previous post.

Just clarify what your mechanic has done and what wiring diagrams he has been following.

Regard

Stuart

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#70 ·
Stuart,

Thank you for your kind informative reply. To clarfiy things better and identify the problem, the picture i posted as my video module, was not MY VIDEO MODULE, it is my bad. It was my mechanic's spare part and when we connected that, we had defintely better visual even tough not sharp clear. So i took a photo of the module's for checking out the ebay but posted here wrongly. (I am now searching that module tough). As my mechanic said, he connected the NAV to TV module according the original schematics as you said,so that should be simple. As you pointed out, there may be a grounding issue, or nav failure (i hope not). The Tv tuner visual is very bad due to reception (living in ext urban), but in DVD the visual is also not crystal clear, especially when the screen goes black you can see white shades all over. Here is when TV selected,

When checking for DVD,

And this is during playing an original DVD disc.


As you see there are many thin white lines through the screen when it goes black and they are very upsetting. Is this normal or can this be related with the NAV issue? how can i check for grounding in a simple way?

And for TV reception also, what do you advise for diversity unit, the same as yours?

Regards,

Selmi
 
#72 ·
Glad you have it fixed! Strange fault, must have been an issue with the analogue input amplifiers.

Stuart
 
#74 ·
Hello,

It's an early one, built November 2001. It has rear electrically adjustable comfort seats at the back.

It was an optional extra, quite rare, I haven't seen many with this, what's unusual is the car is a short wheelbase and this is usually a long wheelbase option.

From what I understand my E65 was a dealer demonstrator so was fitted with most of the options available at initial launch.
 
#76 ·
Guys, as i retrofitted the FL idrive units, a problem occured as now the rear idrive controller, controls the front screen, but not the rear screen, any one what can be the problem is? Also the new i drive controller has a probem, when i turn it right and it cursors down, it goes top of list and then goes down, etc. again up the list it continues like that especcialy in ipod lists does it need allignment?
 
#77 ·
By the end of the year I plan to have a complete RSE (Rear Seat Entertainment) harness available. It will be pulled from a 2008 E65 (short wheel base) and will include the wiring from the Video Module out to the DVD Changer, Rear MMI, Rear armrest, Headphone module, Navigation Computer and Front MMI. PM me if you're interested and I will let you know when it's available.
 
#79 ·
While on this subject, if my rear entertainment system actually does work, but no pocture on the screen ie i stumbled across the fm radio option when playing round with it, also getting force feedback through the armrest controller, would a replacement screen fix it? Or could it be something else? Are the screens known to fail?
 
#80 ·
Hello, i have a couple of questions about this Rear Entertainment Retrofit. I'm buying the parts as i find them and then i install them in the vehicle. I currently have the FL MMIGT, MMIF and rear screen, ASK unit, Front and rear Idrive controllers, and the Headset module. I haven't bought the Video module (Video switch), the DVD changer or the NAVI03 yet but i'm working on it. But i have all the other equipment installed except for the Headset module and while playing to the CD changer the forward and back button on the ask or on the steering wheel doesn't work. If i'm playing the radio or the cd player it works.

The rear screen comes on but when scrolling through it with the rear Idrive controller it has a delay and when i push the Idrive to select something it doesn't work.

So my questions are:

1. Does anyone know why the forward and back button doesnt work while playing the Cd changer? Is this a problem caused because i'm missing the Video module, DVD changer and the NAVI03?

2. Does anyone know if the malfunction with the rear screen is due to missing the same items in number 1?

I have also added #603 and #696 to the VO and everything is coded for whats there. Also, the forward and back button worked until i installed the rear Idrive. I removed it but it didn't change.

Any help would be appreciated and let me know if you need more info. thanks in advance.
 
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